Regulatory clarity is solving blockchain’s distribution problem

In July we wrote that Robinhood's move onchain could matter more for the protocols underneath it than for Robinhood itself. The first hard numbers support that thesis.

Uniswap is the main public exchange on Robinhood Chain and supports trading in Robinhood's stock tokens. This is a protocol that had already processed more than $4.4 trillion in trading volume. Yet within seven weeks, Robinhood Chain has become one of its largest sources of activity.

And Uniswap is only one example. Robinhood Chain is built on Arbitrum, with protocols including Morpho for lending and Lighter for perpetual futures forming part of the financial stack underneath it.

For years, protocols solved the production side of financial services. What they lacked was distribution.

As regulatory barriers fall that is starting to change. Robinhood is assembling financial products from open-source protocols that have spent years building and proving the underlying infrastructure and delivering distribution to them.

That may be how blockchain applications finally move into the mainstream: not by acquiring users one wallet at a time, but by becoming the financial infrastructure underneath platforms that already have them.

Also this week

• SEC formally proposed ‘Regulation Crypto Assets’
• Trump Says CFTC Working to Bring Hyperliquid to U.S.
• Kraken parent Payward explores becoming a 'full bank' outside the US
• Tether says KPMG issued 'clean' opinion in first full audit of USDT issuer's financials
• Coinbase wins Abu Dhabi license for tokenized securities hub
• Fidelity files to let its Ethereum ETF stake and pay investors

Relevant financial updates

• OpenRouter, an AI model-routing marketplace, was acquired by Stripe for a reported $7.5 billion
• NeoSoul, a decentralized AI platform, has raised $11mln in a Pre-Series A round with investments from MH Ventures, Amber Group and others
• River Markets, a prime broker for prediction markets, has raised $8.5mln in a Seed round led by Haun Ventures with investments from CB Ventures, Y Combinator, and 5 others
• Entravel Group*, a stablecoin-enabled travel platform, has raised $7.5mln in a Seed round led by Ethereal Ventures with investments from Finality Capital, GSR, Varrock, and 3 others
• Twyne*, a decentralized lending platform, has raised $2.5mln in a Seed round led by Cyber Fund with investments from Ethereal Ventures and 3 others

*Underlying TBV portfolio position | Prices as per 21/08

Interesting things to read

• Tokenized Stocks in America, by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev
• All of Finance Is Moving Onchain with Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick

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